Chandra Users’ Committee CXC Manager’s Status Report For the period April 08 – September 08

1. Chandra Users’ CommitteeCXC Manager’s Status ReportFor the period April 08 – September 08 Roger Brissenden CXC Manager 15 October 2008

2. Topics • Program Level Status • Program Management • Spacecraft • Science Instruments and Calibration • Mission Planning • OCC • Data Processing • CXCDS • Chandra Director’s Office • Education and Public Outreach • Mission Metrics • Chandra Grant Awards CXC Status Report/CUC

3. Program Level Status – Program Management • Budget and Contract • Chandra ranked 2nd of 10 in the 2008 Senior Review (see chart 5) • The CXC’s budget is unchanged from the current Program Operating Plan (POP08, submitted 4/08), and expenditures are on track to meet the budget. • NASA directed the CXC to operate the new Einstein Fellowship program, which incorporates Chandra, GLAST (now Fermi) and other Physics of the Cosmos fellowships. We submitted a proposal to MSFC to extend the CXC contract and increase its contract value to accommodate the Einstein program. • NASA continues work on a CXC contract extension to continue Chandra operations and science for up to an additional ~10 years. • Facilities • The OCC’s backup computer system at the CfA’s Cambridge Discovery Park facility has been shown to be capable of handling commands and telemetry. A test with the spacecraft is planned. CXC Status Report/CUC

4. Program Level Status – CXC Organization CXC Status Report/CUC

5. 2008 Senior Review • “Chandra has recently produced - and is expected to continue to produce results - which change our view in areas as diverse as dark matter, dark energy, and clusters of galaxies.” • “While not in position to make specific recommendations, the SRC considers it likely that savings of a few percent over the next two years could be found without greatly affecting the science return or reducing the number of supported observing modes. Anticipating that budget constraints will continue to be tight, the science impact of reducing or eliminating support for specific observing modes should be discussed as part of the next senior review.” • “The SRC recommends funding at the in-guide level for FY09-FY10, and planning for mission extension at the in-guide level through FY11-12.” Chandra Result Rank: 2nd of 10 Score: 9.1/10 CXC Status Report/CUC

6. Program Level Status – Operations • Spacecraft • Continues to operate extremely well overall. • The telemetry processor of the Command and Telemetry Unit reset on 8/12, leading to a transition to Normal Sun Mode. ~160 ks (1 orbit) of observing time was lost. The spacecraft was returned to Normal Pointing Mode on 8/15 with no ill effects. The likely cause was a single event upset. • Nominal passages through summer eclipse season, 6/12 – 7/6. • Science Instruments • Instruments are operating extremely well. • The ACIS flight software was updated to v.44 on 10/1. The ACIS watchdog timer caused the Back End Processor to reboot on 10/5; software was successfully reverted to v.31 on 10/6. 33 ks of observing time was lost. Testing is under way to try and reproduce the event. CXC Status Report/CUC

7. Program Level Status – Operations • Mission Planning – load-interrupting TOOs Accepted Target Time* 05/05/08 SBH 080503 1 d 18 h 08/22/08 SGR 0501+4516 2 d 8h 10/01/08 3C66A 3 d 8 h 10/03/08 AXP 1E1547.0-5408 4 d 5 h 10/06/08 1ES0120+340 1 d 3 h • *Time from TOO approval to start of observation • OCC • The two T1 connections to JPL failed on 6/4 due to the service provider’s equipment. 1.5 scheduled supports and 1 additional support were missed before service was restored. No data were lost and there were no adverse effects. • The T1 lines have been rerouted to avoid redundant pathways, and a backup ISDN connection to JPL is in place. CXC Status Report/CUC

8. Program Level Status – Operations • Data Processing • Automatic processing is current; mean time from end of observation to delivery to user remains at about one day • CXC Data System Releases Version Date Main contents CIAO 4.0.2 4/17 Mac Leopard release DS 7.6.11.7 6/16 Compatibility with OFLS 11.7 DS 7.6.11.8 7/14 Archive server upgrade to Solaris 10/Sybase 15 DS 7.6.11.9 8/11 Additional changes for OFLS 11.7 compatibility CXC Status Report/CUC

9. Program Level Status – Operations • Chanda Source Catalog (CSC) Releases Version Date Main contents CIAO 4.0.2 4/17 Mac Leopard release CAT 2.8.1.1.2 7/1 L3 Thread completion CAT 2.8.2 7/18 Science data review feedback CAT 2.8.2.1 8/1 Pre-production test I CAT 2.8.3 8/14 Pre-production test II CAT 3.0 8/15 Chandra Source Catalog Operations Release CAT 3.0.1 9/24 CSC QA update and bug fixes CAT 3.0.2 10/6 CSC GUI update and bug fixes • CXC Data System Planned Releases Version Date Main contents DS 8.0 Winter Solaris10 migration to Operations (implementation depends on system liens) CIAO 4.1 12/15 CIAO Sherpa release 1; CIAO bug fixes and enhancements; Cycle11 support CIAO 4.1.1 ~Mar 09 Catalog support patch CXC Status Report/CUC

10. Program Level Status – Operations • Calibration Database (CalDB) Updates CalDB 3.4.4 4/2 PCAD aspect file update for ACIS detector housing heater shutoff CalDB 3.4.5 6/26 ACIS T-gain Epoch 33 (1/08-4/08) CalDB 3.5.0 9/8 ACIS T-gain Epoch 34 (5/08-7/08) ACIS OSIP file upgrade N0007 (-110C ops; 9/99-1/00) HRMA encircled count fraction (for L3 processing only) • GO Program • Peer review was held 16-20 June • Cycle 10 targets announced 7/11; acceptance letters mailed 8/13; cost proposals due 9/18 • Chandra Fellows program • Fellows’ budgets have been solicited, received, and approved for next year • Application procedures have been restructured for the new Einstein Fellows program • Einstein program call for proposals issued Sept 08, deadline 11/7/08 • Chandra Fellows symposium will held at CfA, 10/17/08 CXC Status Report/CUC

11. Mission MetricsMUPS Fuel Usage CXC Status Report/CUC

12. Mission MetricsThruster Warm Starts CXC Status Report/CUC

13. Mission MetricsObserving Efficiency High solar radiation during 12/06 CXC Status Report/CUC

14. Data Delivery Effectiveness CXC Status Report/CUC

15. Grant Award Effectiveness CXC Status Report/CUC